Digital Commons Network^™

Corruption Devolved: People’S Perceptions On Devolutions Impact On Transparency, Accountability And Service Delivery By The Government Of Kisumu County, Kenya, Julia Fonshell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 2010, Kenya introduced a new constitution and with it the introduction of the concept of a decentralized government. The devolved system of government was implemented in 2013 and granted each of the 47 counties in Kenya, such as Kisumu County, greater autonomy, resources and ability to serve its people. This study aims to compile a thorough understanding of people’s perception on how devolution has impacted transparency, accountability and service delivery of the government of Kisumu County, Kenya within its five years.

The study is comprised of a series of interviews on the premises of the Kisumu County Assembly with …

Selection Perception: Views On The Theory Of Evolution Among Residents Of Moshi, Tanzania, Robin Waterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The theory of evolution is a major tenet of biological science and has many practical applications, particularly in agriculture, medicine, and conservation. Nevertheless, there is significant opposition to the theory and its incorporation into school curricula, largely on religious grounds. This disconnect between public opinion and scientific opinion has been studied at length in the US and to some extent in other industrialized nations, but little is known about the issue in other communities around the world. This paper will use the town of Moshi, Tanzania as a case study in community views and knowledge about the theory of evolution. …

Pearl Lagoon's White Lobster: The Societal, Economic, Political And Autonomous Effects, Rafely Palacios

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua is home to the greatest number of impoverished individuals in the country. However, the people of Pearl Lagoon - a municipality in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region - have found a way to escape their poor economic situations.

Due to the municipality’s close proximity to drug routes utilized by Colombian cartels and to the country itself, community members have turned to the drug trade in hopes of pursuing financial secureness. With the introduction of the “white lobster” or cocaine packets, the community as a whole has transformed its social, economic, and political spheres. In …

Shiwilu, Pilar Valenzuela

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Articles and Research

"Shiwilu, also known as Jebero (ISO jeb), is a critically endangered Kawapanan language spoken in the District of Jeberos, in northeastern Peru. Kawapanan languages exhibit a “mixed” areal profile, in that they combine structural properties typical of Western Amazonian languages with features specifically associated to the Central Andean families Quechuan and Aymaran (Valenzuela 2015). On June 23, 2016, Shiwilu became the first Peruvian language to be declared National Cultural Heritage (Resolución Viceministerial N° 073-2016-VMPCIC-MC). The present text was delivered orally in 2013 by one of the youngest native speakers, Mr. Fidel Lomas Chota, who was 59 years old at the …

Pyatt, Susanna (Fa 1380), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 1380. “Woven Evidence?: Western Shaker Connections with Native Americans,” a paper written by Susanna Pyatt in April 2018 for a WKU folk studies class.

Comment On “Contingent Persistence: Continuity, Change, And Identity Inthe Romanization Debate” By Lara Ghisleni, Lee M. Panich

Faculty Publications

Ghisleni adds an additional voice to the growing chorus of archaeologists dissatisfied with conventional approaches to understanding the material evidence for intercultural entanglements. Particularly troublesome in this regard is the stubborn idea that continuity and change are two mutually exclusive trajectories initiated at the moment of contact. Such formulations lead to a priori assumptions about material culture that limit the ability of archaeologists to trace the complex relationships resulting from such encounters. In seeking to break down the dichotomous thinking that has pervaded the archaeological study of the Roman Empire and its local instantiations, Ghisleni offers an alternative that treats …

Global Studies Initiative Final Report: Anthropology 103, Lauren Anaya

Global Studies Initiatives in Social Sciences 2017-2018

In this project report for the Global Studies Initiative at Parkland College, the instructor of Anthropology 103: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology reflects on how global issues focusing on the European Union, Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia were integrated into to the course curriculum, how they were received by students and the likelihood of continued inclusion.

Global Studies Initiative Final Report: Anthropology 101, Isabel Scarborough Ph.D.

Global Studies Initiatives in Social Sciences 2017-2018

In this project report for the Global Studies Initiative at Parkland College, the instructor of Anthropology 101: Introduction to Anthropology reflects on how global issues focusing on the European Union, Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia were integrated into to the course curriculum, how they were received by students and the likelihood of continued inclusion.

In Search Of Ritualistic Practice In Louisiana’S Labor Rooms, Carly Wayt

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Wealth In The Pre-Roman Western Mediterranean: Pontós, Alorda Park, And Lattara, Colleen M. Maher

Student Publications

This paper focuses on discussing whether there were varying levels of wealth in three individual pre-Roman settlements in the western Mediterranean. The goal of this paper is to answer the question of if the different indigenous settlements of Pontós, Alorda Park, and Lattara in the Western Mediterranean experienced variable levels of wealth detectable via the archaeological remains of their prestige goods and houses in the last age or period of their occupation.

Click, Clack, Moo Marxism: Recognizing Theoretical Frameworks, Lana Williams

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The challenge of engaging students in disciplinary theory has always been somewhat daunting for most professors. The introduction of theoretical concepts from primary readings is fundamental in this endeavor, but how do we get students to engage with the materials in a more critical and, in some instances, timely fashion? Critical literacy should go beyond primary literature and also be about questioning practices that keep particular structures of knowing, believing, and being in place. In practice, this can be accomplished through building critical literacy skills by recognizing theoretical frameworks in non-traditional contexts. The assignment provided here outlines one way in …

Europe And The Pacific: Introduction By The Guest Editor, Toon Van Meijl

Pacific Studies

Introduction article to the special issue, "Europe and The Pacific" by the guest editor, Toon van Meijl.

Anthropology Between Europe And The Pacific: Values And The Prospects For A Relationship Beyond Relativism, Joel Robbins

Pacific Studies

Joel Robbins expresses the relationship between Europe and Pacific peoples by analyzing the nature of anthropology in both areas of the world.

Expressive Enlightenment: Subjectivity And Solidarity In Daniel Garrison Brinton, Franz Boas, And Carlos Montezuma, R. Arvo Carr

Publications and Research

This chapter explores the expressivism of Franz Boas’s anthropological and linguistic thought, and situates Boas in a late-nineteenth- century cultural and intellectual milieu in which the theory and practice of self-expression took on unprecedented significance. Boas’s expressivism had deep roots in German intellectual culture, but was also influenced in surprising ways by his experiences in the Americas, in particular by the “philosophy of expression” espoused by Daniel Garrison Brinton, to whom Boas paid tribute in a 1899 obituary. Yet the history of Boas’s expressivism goes beyond intellectual history and the transmission of scholarly theories among European and Euro-American academics; for …

One Peninsula, Many Spains: An Inquiry On Memory, Historiography, And The Legacy Of The Spanish Civil War From 1930 To The Present, Adrian Rios

Honors Projects

In this essay, I analyze the events of the Spanish Civil War and their ramifications through the lens of cultural memory and historiography. I argue that ideas of memory are crucial to how societies and individuals understand history and that the Spanish Civil War had a tremendous impact on the Spanish people and significantly affected the memory not only of witnesses of the conflict, but to their descendants. This essay utilizes primary and secondary sources to understand the function of memory and varied responses to the Spanish Civil War. The essay begins with a brief historical overview of the conflict …

Unmasking Hybridity In Popular Performance, Hannah M. Harder

Student Publications

This paper explores cultural hybridization in popular music and the eroticization of the exotic eastern aesthetic. Using musicology and anthropology as tools, the paper examines varying perspectives of the artists, audience and marginalized groups. Although cultural appropriation has been used recently as a blanket buzzword in mainstream dialogue, it does provide a platform to discuss complex issues on gender, race and sexuality that has been muddled by colonial mentalities.

Understanding Violence Against Foreigners In Cape Town: Conceptions Of Autochthony And Xenophobia In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Mary L. Casey

Student Publications

Examining the correlation between the history of colonialism and structures of Apartheid in South Africa and the current xenophobic violence experienced by Black African immigrants settling in Cape Town. This thesis explores theories of autochthony and belonging in the context of Cape Town, Black South African relationships and ownership of land, access to resources and opportunities for employment, and the continued disenfranchisement of Black South Africans in the wake of Apartheid. These components of the issue of xenophobia in Cape Town are factored into an analysis of how and why violence persists against immigrants in the city.

Binding Ideologies: An Investigation Of Language Attitudes And Ideologies In The Moroccan Publishing And Book Sector, Ashley Coyne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The interaction between author and reader is not as simple nor as direct as may at times be assumed. There are “gatekeepers” and middle men who mediate the transmission of ideas from writer to reader; these institutions and their ideologies determine the final product that will (or will not) be presented to readers. In Morocco, this author-reader interaction is further complicated by the language ideologies which pervade the realm of Moroccan literature. As Moroccan publishers and booksellers are the “gatekeepers” who arguably engage the most in language politics, this study examines their role in facilitating or inhibiting the Moroccan author-reader …

Not So Bizarre Foods: Exploring The Historical And Cultural Traditions Behind The Foods Of France, Germany, And Italy, Kari Pederson Behrends

Capstone Collection

Not So Bizarre Foods is a summer-term program designed for upper-level Culinary Arts students from Johnson and Wales University, Providence. Unlike other programs serving students in the Culinary Arts, this unique model includes multiple locations and an internship. The proposed program features three month-long modules based in Lyon, France; Munich, Germany; and Naples, Italy allow for comparison across locations. Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of Kolb, Vygotsky, and Mezirow, the experiential, transformative curricular design combines an academic seminar, a practical seminar, and an internship placement, emphasizing the interplay between history, culture, and culinary tradition, a concept inspired by the popular …

The Burdens They Carry: How Black College Students Resist And Internalize Received Messages About Race And Racism, Lydia E. Koku , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

At predominantly white institutions, black college students' understandings of their campus climate are complicated by their experiences of racial microaggressions and racial battle fatigue. In addition to navigating discriminatory encounters with peers, faculty and staff, black college students must contend with systemic inequality. Although prevalent research notes that positive racial socialization practices can prepare young people to think about, address and cope with racism, few studies have qualitatively explored black college students' perceptions of their socialization, and particularly, whether or not they were adequately prepared to experience and conceptualize racism in college. My thesis addresses these gaps by considering how …

Le Fuia, Le Fuia, E Tagisia Lou Vaelau “Starling, Starling, We Pine For Your Nimbleness”: Towards A Samoan Indigenous Framing Of Responsibility For “Climate Change”, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Ta‘Isi Tupuola Tufuga Efi

Pacific Studies

"Over a century ago Augustin Kramer recorded a Samoan song with the line: le fuia, le fuia, e tagisia lou vaelau. I have translated this into English as “Starling, starling, we pine for your nimbleness.” The references to nimbleness and to the fuia, or native Samoan starling bird, are literal and metaphorical and were chosen deliberately for their ability to make visible an indigenous context. The line reminds that, with skill and dexterity, one can find in nature balance, hope, and support despite the potentially harmful effects of gravity. This address uses this phrase and its Samoan indigenous …

Our Rising Sea Of Islands: Pan-Pacific Regionalism In The Age Of Climate Change, Katerina Teaiwa

Pacific Studies

"Both Oceania Rising and the Climate Warriors represent postcolonial, antihegemonic movements that are grounded in contemporary customs, realities, and cultural identities, while simultaneously championing broader regional identities and unifying concerns. This essay tentatively explores these twenty-first century expressions of a shared Oceania in relation to earlier unifying concepts such as those expressed by the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara (1997) and Professor Epeli Hau‘ofa (1994)."

Vol. 41 No. 1/2 (2018): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 41, No 1/2-Apr/Aug 2018 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Ocean In Us: Security Of Life In The World's Largest Ocean, Joeli Veitayaki

Pacific Studies

"The sea is our pathway to each other and to everyone else, the sea is our endless saga, the sea is our most powerful metaphor, the ocean is in us. (Hau’ofa 2008, 58)

Climate change has arrived. It is the greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific and one of the greatest challenges for the entire world. (Majuro Declaration 2013, Article 1)"

The Sharing Of Cultural Heritage Between Europe And The Pacific: The Kanak Experience, Emmanuel Kasarhérou

Pacific Studies

Emmanuel Kasarhérou's article on the sharing of cultural heritage between the Pacific and Europe, specifically in relation to New Caledonia.

Political Or Ap®Olitical? Ap Economics Teachers, Neoliberalism, And The Political Classroom, Min Cheng , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

"How does one speak objectively, ifwe're talking about someone's comments about sexually assaulting someone? How am I supposed to be like, 'oh, you know, you gotta understand, he's just saying that.' When somebody's not able to condemn white supremacy stuff, how am I supposed to be like 'well, you know, you're entitled to your opinion on that.' Or infowars stuff, where we got people that are denying that shooting massacres actually happened. Like how do I objectively deal with this ifit's nonsense?" —Mr. Holton

In this qualitative study, I find that progressive public school teachers of AP Economics experience …

From The Margins To The Center: Queer And Trans Teachers Of Color In K-12 Public School, Esteban Cabrera-Duran , '18

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

Interviews with nine self-identified queer and trans teachers of color (QTToC) address how teachers both work within and resist the reproductive function of schools. Findings suggest that QTToC enter the profession with a set of values and conunitments. The pedagogies of these teachers can have a trans formative effect on the academic outcomes of students and prepare them to be critical of ideologies and systems of oppression. To fulfill this role and conunitment, teachers must have the support of the school context and culture. This thesis adds to the growing body of literature on QTToC and presents a more optimistic …

The Importance Of Language In Cross-Cultural Interaction, Lacy Norton

Senior Honors Theses

Language and culture are connected. Because of this connection, people have a preferred language with which they have an emotional or cultural connection. In Latin American cultures, it is beneficial to speak to a person in their preferred language. Using a person’s preferred language as opposed to any other language will facilitate a deeper connection with that person, cross cultural barriers that may separate them, and be more effective when attempting to share the gospel.

Volume 10, Taylor Hogg, Tiffany Carter, Brandyn Johnson, Haleigh James, Josh Baker, Tyler Cernak, Kirsten Bauer, Allie Snavely, Mary Zell Galen, Eric Powell, Thomas Wise, Katie Kinsey, Beth Barbolla, Maeleigh Ferlet, Rebecca Morra, Michala Day, Alexandra Evangelista, Max Flores, Harley Hodges, Clardene Jones, Harrison Samaniego, Jamesha Watson, Abby Gargiulo, Heather Green, Haley Klepatzki, Juan Guevara, Dani Bondurant, Michael Joseph Link Jr., Pamela Dahl, Maeve Losen, Charlotte Murphey

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction Dr. Roger A. Byrne

An Analysis of Media Framing in Cases of Violence Against Women by Taylor Hogg

Writing in the Discipline of Nursing by Tiffany Carter

Photography by Brandyn Johnson

The Hidden Life of Beef Cattle: A Study of Cattle Welfare on Traditional Ranches and Industrial Farms by Haleigh James

Bloodworth's by Josh Baker and Tyler Cernak

Prosimians: Little Bodies, Big Significance by Kirsten Bauer

Skinformed by Allie Snavely

Coopertition and Gracious Professionalism: The Effects of First Robotics Folklore and Culture on the Stem Community by Mary Zell Galen

Tilt by Eric Powell And Thomas Wise

The Millennial …

The Development And Role Of Diagnostic Imaging And Three-Dimensional Printing Technologies In Anthropology And Medicine, William Long

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.